OK, gurus-- I've got an SA short-head spey line for my 13 7/8 Trilogy rod...I'm thinking tips. So has anyone cut the line? If so, where? Type and length of tips? Worth doing or not?

If there are other suggestions for lining this (or similar) rod, please let me hear them. I'm going to use it some for steelhead but probably more off the beach for various salmonids.

Thanks and Merry Christmas,

Keith

Nice job on the ankle, Brian. Your timing could have been better, though. Thanks for the reply.

As for the short head: I don't have a micrometer at the moment, although if I pursue the cut and splice biz, I probably will in the future.

Am I correct that the place to cut is where the taper starts at the end of the head? Or should it be where the taper ends toward the end of the fly line?

Or should I just say the heck with it and use Fred Evans' method of a short section of leadcore 30 inches into the leader...I've tried that with other lines/rods and it seems to cast OK, although I can't say how it compares in sink rate.

All this is kind of new to me-- I know a little of the theory but nothing of the application. I've used the shooting head and tips suggestion from Juro's site, and it works a treat on my single-hander. I need to fine-tune the tips a bit to get the most out of it.

I'll probably be using SA's version of the fast-sinking tip material rather than T-14.

Keith

I cut @ 15' like I do for my Rio lines and it works well. I use anywhere between 9' (T14) and lighter 15' tips and it seems to accomodate everything I've thrown on it.

Thanks, gentlemen. And H2H-- doesn't matter if you're laid up or not for the near future, given the weather...

Keith

Hi Keith! Just a bit of 'correction' to the above. I use (normally) sinking poly leaders or T-14. The poly leaders come in slow to extra fast sink rates and (if memory serves here) in 5, 7 and 10 foot lengths. T-14 is however long you want to cut/loop it off.

Starting with the T-14, here I am running it off a cut back (usually) windcutter. With a lighter rod/shorter 'tip' it will be the 9-10-11; longer/heavier heads are run off a 11-12-13 (yes it is a fattie to say the least.)

The poly leaders are run straight off a full DRY line. What makes them work (and very well) is I'll have a 3-4 foot "butt section" (you've already got one on your dry line leader anyway) of 30# test Maxima main line (rods 8 and up) or 25# for rods 7 and down. (Well, a correction there: if it's a very fast action 7 I will use the 30#).

What the 'shot' of leader material does is allow the poly leader to sink immediately without having the dry lines pulling it back towards the surface. Net result is the 'sinking portion' goes down faster and stays there considerably longer. Both 'good things.'

This rig works very well in water up to about 4' deep with moderate flows. As 'flow rate' increases the debth that that you can expect will also decrease. You can also 'improve' the length of your drift by using a weighted fly.

Either way/rig you're still at a max. of a 2 foot leader (remember, unweighted fly's tend to float UP in the water coloum.

Hey, Fred-- I forgot that you were recommending the poly leaders. I couldn't find any locally, so I opted for short sections of leadcore after the length of Maxima. They worked OK...but I was thinking more about tips as the leadcore wasn't ideal.

We'll see if the rains ever stop.

Keith